SSH EN 17503:2022

Soil, sludge, treated biowaste and waste - Determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) by gas chromatography (GC) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)

Scope

This document specifies different methods for quantitative determination of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) (see Table 2) in soil, sludge, treated biowaste, and waste, using GC-MS or HPLC-UV-DAD/FLD covering a wide range of PAH contamination levels (see Table 2).
NOTE The method can be applied to sediments provided that validity is demonstrated by the user.
When using fluorescence detection, acenaphthylene cannot be measured.

[Table 2 -Target analytes of this document]

The limit of detection depends on the determinants, the equipment used, the quality of chemicals used for the extraction of the sample and the clean-up of the extract.
Under the conditions specified in this document, the lower limit of application from 10 μg/kg (expressed as dry matter) for soils, sludge and biowaste to 100 μg/kg (expressed as dry matter) for solid waste can be achieved. For some specific samples (e.g. bitumen) the limit of 100 μg/kg cannot be reached.
Sludge, waste and treated biowaste can differ in properties as well as in the expected contamination levels of PAH and presence of interfering substances. These differences make it impossible to describe one general procedure. This document contains decision tables based on the properties of the sample and the extraction and clean-up procedure to be used.
The method can be applied to the analysis of other PAH not specified in the scope, provided suitability is proven by proper in-house validation experiments.
Sampling is not part of this standard. In dependence of the materials, the following standards need to be considered, e.g. EN 14899, ISO 5667-12 and EN ISO 5667-13.